It is not every week that a character-driven, black-and-white, true-blue independent psychological drama manages to get a theatrical release.
Karan Gour's debut film Kshay is that rare indie film with absolutely no elements you usually find in mainstream cinema — no colour, no known faces, no romance, no laughs, no singing or dancing (though the score and sound design is top notch) nor is it a thriller in the conventional sense.
Yet, Kshay manages to intrigue, powered by its uncompromising script that chooses to focus on the inexplicable obsession of its protagonist over a statue of Lakshmi that is beyond her reach.
The film takes us through her journey to acquire it, even at the cost of losing her mind. By making the statue of Lakshmi the MacGuffin, Gour leaves it open to interpretation. You can read the film as a behavioural study of materialism and as the blind obsession of a woman over her goddess and the craving for perfection in art. The abstraction of the plot is its biggest strength.
The filmmaker manages to compensate for the indie trappings (the lack of budget shows) with reasonably engaging performances by the cast — Rasika Duggal and Alekh Sanghal — and you can't help but wonder what this could have been with powerhouse actors with screen presence.
The film will be screened at PVR at 10.15 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Book your tickets just so that more filmmakers such as Gour dare to dream. And obsess over their art.
